New Plymouth CIB / Crime Scene Forensics

If you saw people at WITT in white lab coats
entering a police restricted area on the top floor of A Block - its
okay, Christine, Michael, and the NRG students were on the case!

Christine and Michael Fenton developed and ran a
series of 3-day CSI Forensic workshops at the Western Institute of Technology at
Taranaki. The workshops proved
extremely popular and won Christine an award for Innovation and
Excellence.

The TV show CSI revolves
around a team of Las Vegas forensic Crime Scene Investigators.

Our heroes fill dual roles as both
police detective and scientist, relentlessly analysing every detail at
the scene of the crime, no matter how seemingly irrelevant or grotesque
in nature. These super sleuths have science and experience on their
side to solve any case!

Our award winning 3-day
Forensics courses highlighted that crime scene investigation relies on
two different specialist roles; the the laboratory based
forensic scientists and the crime scene based police officers and
detectives...

Local investigators
from the New Plymouth CIB tell us how it really is...

Detective Senior Sargeant Grant Coward,

Constable Katrina Bunning,

Senior Constable David Armstrong.

The New Plymouth CIB team set up a crime scene
and used this to introduce the concepts of identifying and collecting
physical evidence.

Students worked in teams to try and determine who
the offender was and what happened at the scene.

Senior Constable Armstrong acted in his real-life
role as Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO) guiding each team and dusting for
fingerprints.

Constable Bunning gave advice and noted how the
teams performed which provided valuable feedback later on.

Detective Snr Sgt Coward teaches one of the
teams how to record fingerprints.

He also talked to the class about career
opportunities in the police force and some of his experiences working
in the CIB.

Spot the two members of the New Zealand Fire
Service who took part in the workshop...(see the class photos below!)

Scientists Michael and Christine Fenton taught
the lab classes and discussed career options in Forensic Science and
the work of the ESR.

The teams also carried out a barrage of lab tests
as part of their attempt to determine the identity of the offender.

ESR is contracted to provide Police
with a one-stop forensic service. This includes managing a databank of
DNA samples, and analysing illicit drugs, body fluids, physical
evidence from crime scenes, and blood taken from drunk drivers. ESR
also services and calibrates Police breath testing equipment.